To Thee, O Lord, Our Hearts We Raise
To Thee, O Lord, our hearts we raise
To Thee, O Lord, Our Hearts We Raise is a hymn text by Latin anonymous (1800) in L.M. meter. Translated by John Casper Mattes. Found in tlh 573. Sung to MELCOMBE.
This hymn expresses characteristic Lutheran thanksgiving for God's providential care and material blessings, reflecting the doctrine of God's ongoing sustenance of creation. It connects temporal gratitude to eternal praise, emphasizing the believer's proper response to divine generosity.
History & Background
This hymn derives from Latin hymnody and was translated into English by John Casper Mattes in the early 20th century. It appears in The Lutheran Hymnal (1912) and subsequent Lutheran hymnals as a harvest and thanksgiving hymn.
Hymnal Appearances
- The Lutheran Hymnal — 573
Translation
Bulletin Note
An 1800s Latin hymn expressing Lutheran conviction that God's ongoing care sustains creation and calls believers to grateful stewardship. The tune ERHALT UNS HERR ("Preserve Us, Lord") deepens its theology of divine providence.
Preaching Connection
This hymn embodies the Gospel movement from receiving God's gracious gifts to the Law's loving call: that gratitude itself becomes our truest praise and stewardship our faithful response.
Stanza Arc
The narrative or theological arc traced by this tune's stanzas: Christ's Lenten self-denial models our repentance; His victory over Satan empowers our spiritual triumph; His presence sustains us through suffering toward Easter joy and eternal paradise.
Background Research
TLH 573. William Chatterton Dix. First published in 1864 in the enlarged Hymns for the Services of the Church (Bristol: H. W. Drake), compiled for his Bristol congregation and known as "St Raphael's Hymnal": four 8-line stanzas, without music (Hymnology Archive). The index's "c. 1864, for a harvest festival" is consistent. A harvest thanksgiving hymn that moves from the gathered grain to souls fed by grace and the eternal harvest-home. Arthur Sullivan wrote GOLDEN SHEAVES for it in Church Hymns with Tunes (1874), named from a phrase in stanza 3, and it is the usual tune. Dix also wrote "As with gladness" and "What child is this" (the latter from memory).
Overview
William Chatterton Dix's harvest-festival hymn. The fields are golden and the valleys 'so thick with corn / That even they are singing' (st. 1; Ps 65:13). Bringing firstfruits to the altar, we ask the one who gives earthly bread to give the Bread eternal (st. 2). After the day's toil comes rest; may we stand accepted when the angels reap, as Christ's golden sheaves (st. 3). The heavenly land of God, with its crystal river, joins our song in a harvest song that never ends (st. 4).
Central theme: Harvest thanksgiving that looks through earthly bread to the Bread of Life and the angels' final reaping
Structure
Four eight-line 8.7.8.7 D stanzas. Golden fields (1); firstfruits and Bread eternal (2); toil, reaping and acceptance (3); the heavenly land (4).
Law & Gospel Shape
Law: the burden and toil of the day (3). Gospel: 'Give us the Bread eternal'; 'Stand at the last accepted'; 'Christ's golden sheaves'; the endless song (2-4).
Confessional Connections
Ps 65:12-13 (TLH's text): 'The valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.' St. 1: the 'sacrifice of praise' (Heb 13:15) is the eucharistic sacrifice of thanksgiving, not a sacrifice that earns anything (Ap XXIV). St. 2: 'Thou who dost give us earthly bread, / Give us the Bread eternal' (John 6:32-35). This is the Fourth Petition carried into the Gospel. St. 3: 'accepted… elected' (Eph 1:4-6). The angels' reaping at the end (Matt 13:39-43) holds no terror for those chosen in Christ (FC XI, election as comfort). St. 4: the saints above join the Church's song now (Heb 12:22-23; the Proper Preface, 'with angels and archangels').
Liturgical Use (Study Notes)
Harvest festival; Thanksgiving Day; Last Sundays of the Church Year (harvest and judgment).
Historical Notes
Dix (1837-1898), the insurance manager from Glasgow who also wrote 'As with Gladness Men of Old.' He wrote it c. 1864 for a harvest festival.
About the Tune
HARVEST HYMN (St. Gallen Gesangbuch, 1863, ad.).
Scripture References
Ps 65:12-13 Heb 13:15 Ps 95:1-2 Exod 23:16-19 Prov 3:9 John 6:32-35 Matt 20:12 Matt 11:28 Heb 4:9 Matt 13:39-43 Matt 3:12 Eph 1:4-6 Rev 22:1-2 Heb 12:22-23 Rev 5:9-13
Stanza by Stanza
Lord, we lift our hearts to you in hymns of worship and bring you a sacrifice of praise with shouts of joy. The fields are dressed in golden robes, the hills ring with joy, and the valleys stand so thick with grain that even they are singing.
'Through him let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God' (Heb 13:15). 'The hills gird themselves with joy… the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy' (Ps 65:12-13).
- Scripture
- Heb 13:15, Ps 65:12-13, Ps 95:1-2
- Imagery & language
- Hearts raised; sacrifice of praise; golden fields; singing valleys.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel: creation's joy.
- Connection to previous
- Singing valleys.
And now, on this festival day, confessing your generous hand, we lay the firstfruits of your blessing on your altar, Lord. You feed human souls with gifts of heavenly grace; you who give us earthly bread, give us the Bread eternal.
'The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the LORD' (Exod 23:19). 'Honor the LORD with… the firstfruits of all your produce' (Prov 3:9). 'My Father gives you the true bread from heaven… I am the bread of life' (John 6:32-35).
- Scripture
- Exod 23:16-19, Prov 3:9, John 6:32-35
- Imagery & language
- Festal day; firstfruits; grace supernal; earthly bread; Bread eternal.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel: Christ the Bread of Life.
- Connection to previous
- Bread eternal.
We carry the burden of the day, and work often seems dreary; but labor ends at sunset and rest comes for the weary. When the angels' reaping is over, may we stand accepted at the last, Christ's golden sheaves forever, chosen for his bright barns.
'We have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat' (Matt 20:12). 'There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God' (Heb 4:9). 'The reapers are angels… the righteous will shine like the sun' (Matt 13:39-43). 'Gather his wheat into the barn' (Matt 3:12). 'He chose us in him… accepted in the Beloved' (Eph 1:4-6).
- Scripture
- Matt 20:12, Heb 4:9, Matt 13:39-43, Matt 3:12, Eph 1:4-6
- Imagery & language
- Burden of the day; sunset rest; angel-reaping; accepted; golden sheaves; elected.
- Law / Gospel
- Law: toil. Gospel: accepted and elect in Christ.
- Connection to previous
- Golden sheaves.
How blessed is God's land where the saints live forever, where golden fields spread wide and the crystal river flows. The songs of all its holy crowd blend with ours today; three times blessed is that harvest song which never ends.
'The river of the water of life, bright as crystal' (Rev 22:1). 'You have come to Mount Zion… to the spirits of the righteous made perfect' (Heb 12:22-23). 'They sang a new song' (Rev 5:9).
- Scripture
- Rev 22:1-2, Heb 12:22-23, Rev 5:9-13
- Imagery & language
- Land of God; saints; crystal river; blended song; endless harvest-song.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel: the endless song.
- Connection to previous
- Endless song.
Themes
Thanksgiving Providence God's sustenance Dependence on God Praise